Man adopted at birth left 'grinning' when biological parents track him 56 years later

The internet is full of heartwarming reunions between parents and children separated by adoption, but a particularly touching reunion recently occurred after 56 years apart. A 22-year-old Reddit user, u/EyesNPies, shared the story of his 56-year-old father reuniting with his biological parents, who had to give him up for adoption in the 1960s. Raised by a loving family in Canada, the father had only a letter from his birth parents saying he was "born out of love." It wasn’t until last Christmas, when he received a genetic test as a gift, that he finally connected with his biological family.

The genetic test, a gift from his 19-year-old daughter, was meant to uncover more about his ethnicity. But the father of two ended up finding two perfect genetic matches—his biological parents. When he reached out, he had no idea the matches would be his birth parents. Soon, he received a response from his father, given the pseudonym Jim in the post. "My dad, usually an emotionally reserved man, was curled up on the couch grinning as he texted Jim for the first time," the son shared. His birth mother, Debby, also reached out, revealing a love story that had been cut short by fate.

Being the daughter of an Australian mining engineer, Debby and her family relocated to Canada when she was a teen. When her family moved to the Midwest, Debby and Jim had their meet-cute and were high school sweethearts. They planned to get married after graduation but before that, Debby got pregnant. "This being the sixties, this was a huge deal. Her dad was furious and sent her back to Canada to give birth and arranged a private adoption as he knew of a couple who were trying to have a kid (my grandparents)" the post read. Debby's family moved back to Australia and the young couple couldn't meet for over 4 decades. Jim learned the news of his son's birth but eventually, after Debby got married, he moved on too. But the couple never stopped searching for their son.

Circumstances didn't favor Jim in finding his son in the beginning but the popularity of genetic tests finally helped. "He (Jim) asked Debby to take every single one (genetic tests) and he did the same, about five years ago, in the hopes that one day my dad would take one," the 22-year-old mentioned. So, on finding his son after 56 years, Jim instantly passed this information on to Debby who connected with her son too. While Jim and his wife had no children of their own, Debby lived in Australia and had 3 daughters. Speaking of Jim, the man wrote, "We are their only family since they don't have kids and I couldn't be happier!" The 56-year-old is quite excited and overwhelmed about his family expanding and his son and daughter were getting new grandparents and aunts.

This beautiful reunion story touched many hearts online. "This is such an awesome way to look at it. There is always room for more love in your heart," said u/jacksev. "So many people never find the ones they've lost, it's heartwarming to read that time and space isn't enough to keep family apart. I hope you all have a wonderful relationship!" remarked u/ceciliabee. "That’s a lovely story. It’s exciting to learn you have a family you didn’t know about," added u/Trin_42.

This article originally appeared 3 months ago.